12 Tips For Selling Your Home or Condominium

Awesome! You’ve decided it’s time to move on up, or move on out! Whether you are just moving to a new home elsewhere in Atlanta, or moving to another city, we now have ONE GOAL in mind. Get your home or condominium SOLD! And while you hire me to market your home, there are certainly MANY things that you can, and should do to help get us to the celebration! (We use to call it a closing….now it’s a CELEBRATION! 

Let’s look at 12 Tips for Selling Your Home or Condominium…

1. Check What I’m Doing to Market Your Home!— Since probably 90% or more of homebuyers START their shopping online, they may never set foot in your home or condo if they don’t like what they see on line. I used to post several times a week on Facebook, as series called PRICELESS Listing Photos….and you would be amazed that these pictures come from actual listings. I decided NOT to call out the others in my industry for their lack of professionalism, so I don’t publish them anymore.  I mean, these are the pictures I have seen attached to an actual listing that an agent is marketing!!! Just look at this one! When I market your home, once marketing is up and in place, I will send you links to where you can find your listing. If you see a photo that you don’t think shows your home in the best way, we change it.
2. Write a Love Letter about Living Here — Does this sound silly? Well, a nicely written letter from you to prospective buyers that are touring your home or condo can mean a lot to someone else. Tell how much you loved your Saturday morning walks up and down Peachtree Street with your Starbuck’s coffee in hand….or watching the kids play in the backyard, or the peaceful setting you’ve created to slip away from a crazy week….help a buyer LOVE what you LOVE about your home. We don’t advise this when you are submitting an offer on a property….but it can help a Buyer see what life might be like! 
3. Facebook Your Friends — Don’t knock it….Facebook is where many people are today. We use it constantly to post real estate updates, neighborhood information and YOUR LISTING!  We’ll send you links to our custom website built for your home, and you can inturn share that with your friends. Remember, then their friends see it and their friends and so on….and get your friends to comment on it….the more activity it sees, the more it gets seen. (Facebook has some pretty complex behind-the-scene algorithms to make things show up!)
4. Neighbors Like Neighbors — You have to admit, you like having great neighbors. What could be more fun than your friends down the street or the hall know they could now have THEIR friends for way out OTP be close by?? Back to Facebook, if your neighborhood has a page, or Nextdoor, consider getting the word out there.
5. Condition, Condition, Condition — I’m sure you’ve heard that phrase, but with the word location. While that is true too, the condition of your home or condominium will have much to do with how many showings and ultimately…the price you sell for! If you have a single family home, consider having an inspection done, just like the Buyer would. Find all those little things — and even the major ones — and address them NOW, rather than during a due diligence period once you are Under Contract! It will make the process much easier for everyone, and you won’t have a Buyer asking your for hundreds or thousands of dollars in repairs or off the contract price as a concession. If you have not painted your home or condo in 3 years or more….I have one word for you…..PAINT! It will do wonders for how your home shows, and will cover up those nicks and scrapes of your years living there. Remember, condition, condition, condition…..
6. Leaving Something Behind — Now I’m not suggesting you leave your personal belongings or a family heirloom, but if there is something unique in your home or condo that really just may not fit where you are going…consider leaving it for the next owner! Maybe you had custom blinds or drapes made….patio furniture that from your house, won’t fit on that condo balcony. If it’s in great shape, consider leaving it behind as way to distinguish your home from others that may be for sale.
7. Showings made Simple — Nothing can be more frustrating to a Buyer’s agent, and a potential Buyer than having a hard time seeing your home. If your home does not get shown, it’s not going to be SOLD! If you can avoid things like “Shown By Appointment Only” or “Must have 24 Hours Notice” it will help in marketing your home. Ok, we understand you have a life to live. But go back and read Paragraph One and what our GOAL is….to get your home SOLD! And we understand pets, and kids and all that. But let’s make showing your home or condo simple. We use an automated system on our side that helps us manage and confirm showings quickly. We can put specific showing instructions on the approval as well. But you want to have your home available…and yes, there may be showings that happen short term  – like within a few hours. That could be YOUR Buyer!
8. Stage the Exterior — Of course this mostly applies to a single family home. Keep your yard mowed weekly. Driveway and front entrance blown/swept off. When the agent is at your front door, opening the key box and the door, the Buyers have time to look. And look. Give them nice pots of flowers and well mulched landscape beds to look at. If you live in a condo, this can be very much out of your control. But, if you see something in your lobby that needs attention, mention it to your Property/Association Manager.
9. Proper Pricing Makes for a Prompt Celebration — Of course you want to get the most money you can when you sell your home or condo. And we often follow the idea of if the last one sold for $x, we want to get $xx. Well, that can work FOR, or AGAINST you. You’ve priced ABOVE the last sale, so there could be an appraisal issue. Or that mindset of “room for negotiation.” How about this….price your home BELOW the last sale! This makes it look like a great deal, and these are the ones that get the most visits from Buyers and may even generate multiple offers for your home. And remember, however you price it, if your home sits on the market, it quickly becomes “stale.” When your agent talks to you about a price adjustment….listen.
10. Personal belongs in the Storage unit — Remember, your HOME is now a HOUSE you are trying to sell. You will take your memories with you, but the new Buyer is trying to imagine making their OWN memories in this space. They can’t do that if you have family photos all down the hallway, or all your golf trophies on display. You are going to have to pack to move…just get started early. And while we are packing the personal….
11. De-Clutter! — keep on packing! If it’s summer time – pack away the winter sweaters and coats and open up the closets! Pack up all your tchotchkes that are on tables, shelves, the kitchen counter. Make the space open and inviting. Buyers want to see how much closet space there is…and if you don’t have a lot in a condo, making it LOOK like you have lots of storage space is important!
12. Competition for YOUR Celebration — If your same floor plan is For Sale a few floors up, or down, it’s going to come down to condition and price. And if your competition looks better than you, your Celebration is going to be delayed as they make an offer and move on your competition because it looked and showed better than yours. I’m more than happy to take YOU, as a Seller out and show you some of the very homes or condos YOUR potential Buyers could see. Then you know if you are in first place, or if you have some more work to do!

Let’s get your Celebration ready!